The Other Side

Just because I like to present dissenting voices, here are a couple of responses from readers at AlterNet who picked up on my post about Ron Paul's extremism.

As usual, there's an endless supply of people who desperately want to believe that Ron Paul is the source of all goodness and light in American politics, and they are as always deep in denial about the real nature of their icon. 

dangerdanman

Man you guys really go out of your way to trash people who disagree with you. I love how Alternet will say hes a "far-right extremist" even though he supports full equality, gay marriage no more foreign wars, he wants to demilitarize the police, stop the NSA (which he has been saying for years was happening), make drugs legal, make the penalities for drugs like marijuana non-existant and bring jobs back to America. But I guess when he was congressman of Houston and made it one of the most successful cities in America you have to slander people because you have nothing else to argue with. Oh and by the way he is going up there to discuss economics.

 And then there are the imaginative excuses:

Rob Chapman

I have to agree with Dan. This piece skirts dangerously close to scurilous character assassination.

It might be that Ron Paul wants to speak to this group to differentiate his brand of politics from the anti-Semitism espoused by the others.

It is also possible, and probably even likely that Ron Paul is unaware of the anti-semitic activities and statements of the others and merely took this engagement through his normal booking process. Do American public speakers' agents generally enquire as to whether sponsors are anti-semitic?

I hate to defend Ron Paul, who I view as a charlatan and dupe, but this article relies too heavily on right wing tactics of innuendo and smear to go unanswered.

Because, yeah, the economics experts I know go to Canada all the time to participate in conferences run by anti-Semitic cults. And are perfectly unaware of their nature when they do so. (Hint: Paul has been associating with the Fatima people since at least 1998, when he helped make that video atop the post.)

And then there was the "militiamen are really patriotic people"  contingent:

jaylindberg

 

This David Neiwert guy is way off base.

Ron Paul is smart, articulate, honest and fearless. He has been around a long time and one trait have never seen in him is hatred.

You have to love America's the author's definition of Anti-semite. Anyone that states the Palestinians are being mistreated, that the Jewish lobby and AIPAC have too much power in Washington, that Israeli settlements in Palestine are illegal, that Israel is trying to drag us into this War with Syria or that Israel needs to be get rid of their nuclear weapons is an anti-semite.

Sometimes you have to wonder if clowns like David Neiwert are nothing more that the propaganda arm for the ATF, FBI and Homeland Security. His hate group propaganda Creates the demand for government infiltration, incarceration and far too often assassination of members militia movements under the ruse of hate groups and domestic terrorists. He makes great money plugging this type of propaganda.

My assessment of most militia movements are that they are informed, patriotic Americans that are offended by the conduct of this government. They like guns and know how to take care of themselves.

This is my assessment of most of the groups David claims to be hate groups or domestic terrorists.

Ron Paul is not a terrorist. He is a patriot. He is the closest leader we have in this country to an alternative of our corrupt two party system.

While we are on the subject of terrorism I should also mention that Ron Paul wants to end the Drug War. The closest most Americans will ever come to real domestic terrorism is this government's involvement in the war on Drugs. This war, and the Drug War NAZIs that profit from it terrorize our communities. It is out of control, corrupt and their policies have to answer to nobody. In my case, my opposition to the war on Drugs made my family a target and a parent got killed. I know what terrorism looks like.

 Just for the record: We define anyone who posits and aggressively promotes conspiracy theories claiming that Jews secretly are plotting to rule the world and enslave America (or Russia, or whatever country they're operating in) as anti-Semitic. And the Fatima folks fit that description in spades.

Also, be sure to check out the foulmouthed response from the Threepers that was directed at the folks at the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights for their investigative report on the Threeper plans to build a backwoods compound in Idaho called The Citadel. Definitely NSFW!